Current Position:

Assistant professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Description:

Orion grew up enjoying the great outdoors surrounding Homer, Alaska. In 2003 Orion received a B.A. in chemistry and a minor in music from the University of New Hampshire. For postbaccalaureate studies Orion attended the University of Oregon--earning a Ph D. in organic/inorganic chemistry in 2008. During his doctoral studies Orion helped define the nature of anion/arene interactions under the guidance of Darren W. Johnson. Postdoctoral studies led Orion to The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA where he worked for Julius Rebek Jr. developing light responsive catalysts and ligands that encapsulate uranium. In 2012 Orion joined the chemistry and biochemistry faculty at the University of Montana. Orion is a CoBRE investigator within the Center for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics where he will teach and develop new catalysts that utilize noncovalent interactions as well as self-assembled ligands for ion remediation.

Field Of Study:

Research Interests:

APPLIED MOLECULAR RECOGNITION

My laboratory works at the interfaces of organic/inorganic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and chemical biology. This interdisciplinary environment affords many opportunities to collaborate and apply concepts of molecular recognition. We develop novel uses for noncovalent interactions and apply them to outstanding and socially relevant problems in chemistry. To reach our targets we employ preparative and analytical techniques including; organic/organometallic synthesis, crystallography, computations, UV-Vis, fluorescence and NMR. When successful we will transform how molecular design is approached with focus on noncovalent interactions.